December 2014

Integrated services at local level: cities and the SIP

Our event on the role of cities in the Social Investment Package (SIP), in
Brussels on 4 December, confirmed the need for true multilevel governance if
Europe is to achieve the social targets of the Europe 2020 strategy. We
launched our publication on 'Integrated services at local level', which
presents 10 examples of how cities are delivering effective, integrated social
services to improve the quality of their citizens' lives. We stressed that
while cities are doing their best to respond to the social challenges of
post-crisis Europe, they need maximum support from their national governments
and the EU. Read more...

Simon Anholt: a dual mandate for cities

Following his keynote speech at EUROCITIES 2014 Munich, Simon Anholt kindly
agreed to answer a few questions for us. Simon is best known as the world's
leading authority on national and city image, and is behind the 'Good Country
Index', which measures the contribution of each country on earth to the good of
humanity. At our annual conference, Simon spoke for the first time about how
cities can become 'good'. Read more...

Cyd Cymru - in search of a better energy deal

We look at Cardiff's energy switching scheme, Cyd Cymru (Wales Together) in our
latest 'cities in action' case study. The scheme allows residents to group
together to find better energy deals. Cyd Cymru helps them to approach
suppliers, who then compete in an auction to offer the best prices. Each
household then receives a tailored offer, and it is up to them whether they
choose to switch. Cardiff is leading the scheme together with another local
council, with the support of the Welsh government and with local authorities.
The city has aligned itself with other UK cities to form a large collective of
51,000 consumers. Read more...

EUROCITIES mayors in EPAP panel debate

The mayors of Malmo and Ghent were invited to speak at the 4th Annual
Convention of the European Platform Against Poverty and Social Exclusion (EPAP)
in Brussels on 20-21 November. They emphasised the importance of city
authorities taking a leading role in social innovation by setting up and
funding projects to test new ideas. Meeting Commissioner Thyssen, the mayors
hope this will be a step towards greater collaboration between the EU and
cities in fighting poverty and social exclusion. Read more...

Cooperating with Chinese cities

Meeting during our annual conference in Munich on 6 November, our members
discussed the challenges and opportunities of cooperating with Chinese cities
on sustainable urbanisation. Some of the cities are already quite experienced
in cooperating with their Chinese counterparts, while others are just starting
out. Our involvement in two EU-China projects, EC-LINK and GuiDanCe, should
help our members to connect more effectively with Chinese cities on issues
around sustainable development. Read more...

Other News

Smart cities brokerage event

A record number of participants attended our brokerage event on the Horizon
2020 smart cities calls on 11 December. Read more...

CITYKEYS - new smart cities project

Together with five of our member cities and several research institutes, we
were successful in securing a new smart cities project, CITYKEYS. Read more...

SEiSMiC is launched in Brussels

The SEiSMiC project on social innovation hosted its international launch in
Brussels on 22-25 November. Read more...

Exploring smart lighting in Eindhoven

Representatives from four European cities met peers at Eindhoven city council
to discuss strategies for deploying smart lighting. Read more...